#147 Ray James

Angus Hordern interviews Vietnam veteran and RSL NSW President Ray James.

Life on the Line tracks down Australian military veterans and records their stories. Ray James is a veteran of the Vietnam War and is currently the President of NSW RSL. He served in the Royal Australian Navy on HMAS Sydney, the Vung Tau ferry. He was also on HMAS Melbourne when it collided with the USS Frank E. Evans in 1969. Ray spoke with Angus Hordern about his life of service – in the military, in the police force and now in the veteran community.

Episodes referenced at the end of the podcast include:

• LIFE ON THE SEA Episode IV 'Collision'

• For School and Country

Reflections - Ep VII - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Reflections' has all nine veterans of Life on the Sea look back at their time in the navy, how it shaped them and what it meant to them.

Warm thanks go to the HMAS Sydney & Vietnam Logistical Support Veterans Association (Vic. Inc) and the Frankston Naval Memorial Club for hosting Alex Lloyd to make this podcast miniseries possible.

Regular Life on the Line programming will resume next year, with Season 3.

Stan Goldsmith

Doug Symes Snr

Doug Symes Jnr

Jim Dickson

Willie Beattie

Mark Kinder

John Lord

David Dwyer

Dr John Carroll

Career - Ep VI - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Career' documents the lives in uniform for the veterans of this series after the Vietnam War was over.

Dr John Carroll

Combat - Ep V - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Combat' continues the navy stories of the Vietnam War, until war's end in 1972.

John Lord

David Dwyer

Collision - Ep IV - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. The fourth episode of this miniseries, 'Collision', hears a sailor on HMAS Melbourne during the tragic 1969 Melbourne-Evans collision give his testimony of the day that saw 74 sailors lose their lives. It also features an interview on the subject with the Melbourne's captain, John Philip Stevenson.

You can listen here to the Season 2 bonus episode with short clips from Captain John Philip Stevenson's 2012 interview with Angus Hordern.

Phil Stevenson's World War II service was chronicled in the World War II documentary miniseries FOR SCHOOL AND COUNTRY.

Mark Kinder

John Philip Stevenson

Vietnam - Ep III - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Vietnam' recounts veterans' experiences in the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation and the first four years of the Vietnam War.

Jim Dickson

Willie Beattie

Beginnings - Ep II - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Beginnings' introduces the other 7 veterans of this series - their gripping family military histories, how they found themselves in the navy, their training days and early postings and action.

Doug Symes Jnr

Korea - Ep I - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. 'Korea' recounts two veterans' stories of service in that conflict.

You can listen to the story of Doug Symes Snr’s experiences in World War II, and his family’s extensive military history, in the Season 2 bonus episode.

Stan Goldsmith

Doug Symes Snr

Trailer - Life on the Sea

Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. Life on the Sea is a special miniseries of this podcast, interviewing Royal Australian Navy veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars. This is the trailer for the upcoming 7-part collection of episodes.

• Episode I - Korea

• Episode II - Beginnings

• Episode III - Vietnam

• Episode IV - Collision

• Episode V - Combat

• Episode VI - Career

• Episode VII - Reflections